LAWRENCE — A struggling family of five will get a new start thanks to a car donated by Recycled Rides, a program in which insurers, collision repairers, parts vendors and others collaborate to repair and donate vehicles.

The family is moving to Georgia and was previously living in a “rotating shelter” — each week staying in a different church.

The mother of the family, who wished to remain anonymous, received the car from Coleman Autobody in Lawrence Wednesday morning after the car underwent extensive repair at the shop.

The mother said getting a car was the first vital step both in making the move back to Georgia and gaining independence.

“It’s been really hard to not have a car and to get around and do everything I need to do with three kids,” the mother said. “It’s the next step toward independence.”

The woman’s children range from 6 to 17 years old.

Tom Gillespie, Coleman manager, said the crew has been working on the vehicle, a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country, since mid-May.

An insurance company deemed the previously-owned car not worth fixing before it was donated to Recycled Rides and then sent to Coleman.

“Everyone on the team had at least one hand involved in it. Everybody here donated their time,” Gillespie said. “They weren’t paid; it was off the clock. It was a sense of pride knowing they were going to have an effect on someone’s life.”

More than 800 vehicles have been donated through the Recycled Rides program, which is run by the National Auto Body Council, since its inception in 2007, but this is the first car that has been donated in New Jersey, said Theresa Donatiello Neidich, executive director for the FISH Hospitality Program, the rotating shelter.

“Everyone knows someone who went through some real hard times, so it became one of those things that came real close to home,” Gillespie said. “When you see someone go from having everything to having nothing, it hits close to home.”

The mother, who is heading to Georgia with her husband and three children today, said the vehicle is the first big step in getting their lives back in order.

“It’s really going to give us a new start so we can find jobs and take care of our children,” she said.